1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a card conveyor device, and more particularly to a card conveyor device suitable for use with a card reader which effects reading of information from a card having a magnetic track, writing of information into the card and check-up of the information written in the card.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the banking service, and especially in the ordinary deposit handling service, attempts for the automation of the refundment work by the introduction of a computer have recently been made for the purpose of man-power saving and quick business transaction and such automation has partly been put into practice. With such a system, the depositors are given magnetic cards in which necessary information is magnetically recorded and they can apply such magnetic cards to a console unit or card reader installed in the bank to input a predetermined invisible code number and thereby obtain necessary refundment from their deposits.
Such system is convenient on the one hand, while on the other hand it is not free of the fear that deposits might be refunded to the wrong person by the use of found cards. More specifically, when a card is applied to the card reader which is a console unit, the identification of the bearer of the card with the true possessor of the card has so far been done with the aid of a four-digit invisible code number which is known only to the true possessor of the card, and the invisible code number in question is always included among ten thousand combinations of four digits from 0000 to 9999. Thus, even if the invisible code number of the found card is unknown to the bearer of the card, he will be able to gain unjust refundment of the deposit by trying ten thousand times at most.
To prevent such injustice, there has been introduced a system whereby, when wrong invisible code numbers have been input up to three times, a signal representing such fact is written in the card and the card is temporarily returned to the person who entered the wrong numbers and if further three wrong invisible code numbers have been entered, a signal for nullifying the card is written in the card to thereby make it impossible to withdraw money from the deposit by the use of that card.
The card reader used as the console unit in the described system must of course be provided with two functions of reading and writing and further, when a wrong invisible code number has been input, must be capable of performing a function of writing in the card a signal representative of the fact that a wrong input has been entered.
The countermeasures heretofore taken in the conventinal card readers to meet these requirements will hereinafter be considered by reference to some of the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings,
FIGS. 1a-i illustrate the principle of the card conveyor device in the conventional card reader, FIGS. 2a-c partly illustrate the operation of the card conveyor device of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3a-d are schematic side views of the card conveyor device according to the prior art.
In the construction shown in FIG. 1, there is a magnetic card 2 having a data area (I) carrying therein magnetically written data and a blank end area (II), an inlet port 4 for inserting therethrough the magnetic card 2 into a card reader body 6, a first transport roller 8 for transporting the magnetic card 2 in the direction of arrow X or arrow Y, a first roller 10 rotatably mounted in opposed relationship with the first transport roller to hold and urge the magnetic card 2 against the first transport roller 8, a first sensor 12 for detecting the insertion and discharge of the magnetic card 2 through the inlet port 4, a second transport roller 14 for transporting the magnetic card 2 in the direction of arrow X or arrow Y, a second roller 16 rotatably mounted in opposed relationship with the second transport roller 14 to hold and urge the magnetic card 2 against the second transport roller 14, a magnetic head 18 for reading the data in the data area (I) of the magnetic card 2 transported in the direction of arrow X or Y by the first 8 or the second transport roller 14 or for writing data in the data area (I) at any desired location thereof, and a second sensor 20 for detecting that the magnetic card 2 as transported by the second transport roller 14 in the direction of arrow X has come to a position in which the data area (I) of the magnetic card is out of the corresponding relationship with the magnetic head 18. Incidentally, the sensor 12 has, in addition to the above-described function, a function of detecting that the magnetic card 2 as transported by the second 14 and the first transport roller 8 in the direction of arrow y has come to a position in which the data area (I) of the magnetic card is out of the corresponding relationship with the magnetic head 18.
In the construction described above, when the magnetic card 2 is inserted through the inlet port 4 from the position of FIG. 1a, the first sensor 12 detects this and the first and second transport rollers 8 and 14 begin to rotate counter-clockwise, as viewed in the figure. As the magnetic card 2 is inserted further, the leading end edge of the card is nipped by and between the first transport roller 8 and the first roller 10 so that the card is transported in the direction of arrow X (FIG. 1b). As the magnetic card 2 is further transported in the direction of arrow X, the leading end edge of the card is now nipped by and between the second transport roller 14 and the second roller 16 (FIG. 1c), so that the card is transported by both of the first 8 and the second transport roller 14. Subsequently, the data area (I) of the magnetic card 2 comes to face and bear against the magnetic head 18, whereupon reading of the data on the card is initiated. As the magnetic card 2 is further transported, the trailing end edge of the card leaves the first transport roller 8 (FIG. 1d) so that the card is now transported only by the second transport roller 14 in the direction of arrow X (FIG. 1e). In the meantime, the data in the data area (I) of the magnetic card 2 is continuously read out by the magnetic head 18. Through the described operation, the reading of the data is terminated with the data area (I) of the magnetic card 2 coming out of the face-to-face contact with the magnetic head 18, whereupon this is detected by the second sensor 20 to stop the counter-clockwise rotation of the first and second transport rollers 8 and 14 and thus stop the transport of the magnetic card 2 in the direction of arrow X (FIG. 1f). The position of the magnetic card when this occurs is a first position. Subsequently, the first and second transport rollers 8 and 14 start to rotate in clockwise direction to thereby transport the magnetic card now in the direction of arrow Y. In this manner, the magnetic card 2 comes back to a position in which the then trailing end of the data area (I) corresponds to the magnetic head 18, whereupon this is detected by the first sensor 12 to stop the clockwise rotation of the first and second transport rollers 8 and 14 are accordingly the transport of the magnetic card 2 in the direction of arrow Y (FIG. 1g). The position of the magnetic card 2 when this occurs is a second position. In such second position, the magnetic card 2 cannot be withdrawn out of the card inlet port 4 by any means. With the magnetic card in this position, the depositor may input his invisible code number through a key input device, now shown. If a right invisible code number is input and withdrawl of money from the deposit accomplished, the first and second transport rollers will begin to rotate clockwise to transport the magnetic card 2 in the direction of arrow Y (FIG. 1h), thereby discharging the magnetic card 2 out of the body 6 through the inlet port 4 (FIG. 1 i). However, if the invisible code number entered is wrong, the magnetic card 2 will be held in the second position to wait for entry of a new invisible code number. If wrong code numbers were entered three times, the first and second transport rollers 8 and 14 would be rotated counter-clockwise to transport the magnetic card 2 in the direction of arrow X (FIG. 1d, e and f), so that data representing the fact that three wrong code numbers were input will be written in the data area (I) of the card at a predetermined location thereof by the magnetic head 18, whereafter the first and second transport rollers 8 and 14 will be rotated clockwise to discharge the magnetic card 2 through the inlet port 4 (FIGS. 1f, g, h and i).
In the above-described construction, even once the data on the magnetic card 2 has been read, the magnetic card 2 cannot be removed from the body 6 unless the depositor thereafter enters right invisible code number or enters wrong invisible code numbers three times and the data representing such fact is written in the magnetic card 2, and accordingly, this construction is provided with two transport rollers, namely, the first transport roller 8 for introducing the magnetic card 2 into the body 6 and the second transport roller 14 for transporting the magnetic card 2 between the first and the second position.
In such construction, however, the two transport rollers each have a flexible circumferential portion of rubber or like material adapted to be resiliently urged against the magnetic card to transport the same and therefore, when the magnetic card 2 is being transported while being nipped between the first transport roller 8 and the first roller 10, as shown in FIGS. 1a, b, and c, the first transport roller 8 is resiliently deformed so that the magnetic card 2 undergoes a pressure force in the direction of arrow P at the moment it leaves the first transport roller 8, and thus the magnetic card 2 is momentarily transported at a high speed in the direction of arrow X. In the construction shown in FIG. 1, wherein reading or writing of data is started with the magnetic head 18 facing and bearing against the data area (I) of the magnetic card 2 as it is transported in the direction of arrow X by both of the first 8 and the second transport roller 14 (FIG. 1c) and thereafter, the card 2 is further transported in the direction of arrow X so that the trailing end edge of the card leaves the first transport roller 8 (FIG. 1d and the card 2 shifts into a condition in which it is transported in the direction of arrow X only by the second transport roller 14, the above-described momentarily rapid transport of the magnetic card 2 occurring during the said shift of the card may cause a possibility of erroneous reading or erroneous writing.
To overcome such inconvenience, use has heretofore been made of a magnetic card conveyor device which is designed as shown in FIG. 3, wherein the distance between the first transport roller 8 and the second transport roller 14 is greater so that, when the magnetic card 2 is being transported in the direction of arrow X by both of the counter-clockwisely rotating first and second transport rollers 8 and 14 (FIG. 3b) and when the magnetic card 2 further transported in the direction of arrow X has come to the position where the trailing end edge of the card leaves the first transport roller 8 (FIG. 3c), the data area (I) of the card does not face and bear against the magnetic head and that such data area (I) faces and bears against the magnetic head 18 only when and after the card comes to be transported only by the second transport roller 14 (FIG. 3d), whereupon reading or writing of data starts and thereby, it is ensured that the data area (I) of the magnetic card 2 face and bear against the magnetic head 18 only after the trailing end edge of the card leaves the first transport roller 8 so that the card is transported in the direction of arrow X only by the second transport roller 14, thus to prevent any erroneous reading or writing which may result from the momentary variation in the movement velocity of the card at the moment when the trailing end edge of the card leaves the first transport roller 8.
In such construction, however, the need for the greater distance between the first and the second transport roller has limited the size reduction of the device and this has formed a serious problem when it has been desired to accommodate the card conveyor device within a limited space.